Al Stirt has been a professional woodturner for almost 30 years. His work is included in numerous public and private collections, including the Smithsonian, the White House and the American Craft Museum. He has demonstrated woodturning in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada as well as throughout the U.S. In 1997 the American Association of Woodturners awarded him an Honorary Lifetime Membership for his commitment and contributions to the field of woodturning.

He turns open bowls and platters, both utilitarian and decorative. Many of his pieces incorporate carving and painting. In his teaching he tries to emphasize the ideas and feelings behind his work as well as the technical details.

Al's demonstrations usually cover the following topics.

• A 30 to 45 minute slideshow. Design ideas are incorporated into all the topics he teaches.
• Salad Bowl-focusing on roughing out bowls in green wood, drying and re-turning. Tool use and holding methods as well as the drying process is emphasized.
• Construction and use of vacuum chucks to finish the bottoms of bowls.
• Fluted bowl- Using both green and dry wood to turn & carve a bowl. This includes methods of holding work for carving, use of a pneumatic chisel, & use of a sanding drum to shape wood.
• Turned, painted and carved platter- Using dry wood, Al will first turn a platter and then demonstrate a sgrafitto technique of cutting through a colored layer to reveal a pattern formed by the color of the wood. The use of two types of power carvers will be shown.
• Carved and turned textures - showing the use of various turning and carving tools used to create different textures.
• Critique- If people wish to bring in work we can have an informal critique and discuss (as a group) design ideas & how they apply to individual pieces.

More of Al's Work